Snapshot: With the Ministry of Roads and Transport confirming the fact that the quadricycles could start running on Indian roads by October, Bajaj intends to use the opportunity by launching its RE60.

After losing its second spot to Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) in two-wheeler category, Bajaj Auto has now eyed a new segment which is being called as Quadricycle. With Ministry of Roads and Transport confirming the presence of quadricycles on Indian roads by October, Bajaj has decided to tap the opportunity with its latest offering - the RE60. The two-wheeler giant plans to produce 60,000 units of the RE60 at its Waluj plant near Aurangabad. Bajaj is also developing a left-hand drive variant for the export markets.

"According to our interaction with the management, RE60 will come out in the third quarter of the current year", said a report by Prabhudas Lilladhar - one of India's leading broker company. "As far as the numbers and as far as the impact on the P&L (a/c) is concerned, it will not be significant. We believe quadricycle could add Rs 480 crore this year and Rs 850 crore next year in incremental revenues to the top line. In terms of profitability, it could add Rs 58 crore and Rs140 crore in FY15 & FY16 respectively" the report added.

The RE60 will be powered by a 216cc, 4-stroke, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine that will produce 20bhp of power. The price of the quadricycle is expected to be under Rs 2 lakhs and will provide better handling and safety than the present generation three-wheelers.